Return of Daily Musings, Harry Kane headbutt and Edward Snowden.

So after a couple of days of rekindling my passion for professional procrastination, I’ve decided to bring back Daily Musings.

A couple of friends have from time to time mentioned a potential comeback for no-one’s favourite daily blog and I did think to myself that I should've bought it back during my first semester in Hong Kong as I had some absolute hilarious incidents and thoughts to share, but unfortunately you’re just going to have to take my word for it.

Having done a quick poll on my Instagram account, it became clear that my followers remember musings to be a lot better than it actually was as they overwhelmingly voted to bring it back, so hopefully, this semester has some stories just as mad and bizarre as the last one and all three of my readers enjoy a daily update into goings on over here.

I awoke this morning to last night’s Premier League actions.

Naturally, the main talking point came from the Chelsea and Tottenham clash. I’m told the penalty that allowed Manchester City to beat us was dubious, but I haven’t seen it.

From the highlights of the game I saw, Caballero did not have much to do, but credit must go to Sarri for playing him in a high-pressure game to show no player is bigger than the club.

One of the main talking points of the game was an alleged headbutt from Harry Kane on Cesar Azpilicueta which went unnoticed by the match officials.

Now a lot of people have claimed that the FA will allow it to go unpunished as they always go on the side of Kane’s club. As much as I dislike Spurs, that quite simply is not true.

The six-match ban to Dembele after the battle of Stamford Bridge and ban to Dele Alli after his altercation with Claudio Yacob are testimony to that. It will be interesting to see if the FA come down hard on Kane due to the fact he is England captain, the lack of punishment to Alan Shearer for his boot to Neil Lennon is often argued to have come about as a result of England unwilling to antagonise their captain.

But if Kane does escape punishment it won’t be because he plays for Tottenham. It will be because the panel decides no action needs to be taken or due to the fact, the risk of annoying the national team captain skipper is deemed too high.

The hotel from which Edward Snowden leaked the NSA data is in Hong Kong. The Mira Hotel is in Tsim Sha Tsui, on Nathan Road, so not too far from where I am usually based.

It only just occurred to take a visit.

I may well do that as the leak, no matter your position on Snowden’s action is a part of history. The leak was a significant moment in history. It changes how we behave, the EU’s stringent GDPR laws are a direct consequence. There is perhaps increased awareness into how governments attempt to access private data and it has become a much more debated topic.

As for my opinions on Snowden himself, I have often remarked about how valuable I view civil liberties to be. I would not wish to live in a world where the state could access anything about me and have the potential to use it in any way they see fit.

The line “if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to worry about” has been one muttered by myself numerous times in the past, but who decides what is right and wrong?

Wrongness is very subjective, which is why it should remain in the power of individuals and not the state. It should be up to you to control what people know and could know about you as the reaction to this information can drastically vary from person to person.

Only Snowden himself will know the true motives of his actions, so I won’t attempt to describe him as a traitor or as a hero. His actions have had both positive and negative consequences, which is why I can see both sides of the argument.

The fact remains that there was outrage at the power the NSA had. And rightly so, that knowledge may not have been possible without him. He risked his freedom to get that out there. He should be thanked and admired for that.

Of course, if the information leaked has put people in harm’s way, that is unbearably sad. The most important right is the right to physical security as without all other rights are worthless. I can do and say whatever I want but if you can kill me and get away with it, what is the point?

I think more than anything this story highlights how very little is completely black and white, the debate over this will carry on for years, long after everyone involved in the leak has passed, after all, I still hear and see people debating about events that took places decades ago.

What this story teaches us I think is that people need to think long and hard about the freedoms they hold dear and what should be done to protect them. This must be a continual process, but if that happens, that must surely be the most positive outcome from this saga.